NaNoWriMo

This Monday the madness all starts! I'm fairly certain that I'm going to suck, but that's okay. I just worked out the maths and I'm going to have to write at least 1,600 words per day. Ah! O_O

As for Pottertober, that's certainly gone down the drain, but I may have to merge it into November, which will be interesting. I figure if I'm done writing 1,600 words in a day I deserve the right to get some reading in. I will be needing inspiration anyway seeing as I'm pretty much going to suck!

Pottertober, NaNoWriMo and Decembookathon

My life has been lacking a lot of motivation to do things; I don't finish reading books and I haven't been producing all really great things from my outlets of creativity as often as I feel like I should be. So I've been suddenly inspired to go out of this year with a bang, at least to what I call a 'bang'.

There may be only a couple of weeks left of October, but I know in the past I managed to read HP and the Order of the Phoenix in a matter of a few small days. Since the first installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be out in under a month, all of the rest of this October will be devoted to going through the whole of the series (though I may stop at about half way through DH because, even though I know how it ends, it can't hurt to not spoil it for me.. haha).

All of November will be dedicated to NaNoWriMo (also known as National Novel Writing Month). Whilst I'm not entirely the best novelist, in fact I have never written anything longer than a two or three page story, I think next month will be a good start.

Following on from November, December will be dedicated solely to reading, and finishing, books. Some of you avid followers of my blog may recall a post I blogged late last year in which I wanted to read a whole bunch of books before the end of the year was out. Unfortunately I only ended up finishing one of them, so I will persist to finish a whole bunch of books. Some of the books from that list I have purchased over the past year, but haven't finished, so I may tweak the list a little bit.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Black by Ted Dekker
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Jumper by Steven Gould

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'engle

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
What's So Amazing About Grace? by Phillip Yancey

If anyone has more suggestions of books I should add to this list, leave a comment. =]

Summer weather is almost here

I'm loving it! Especially now that I am allowed to wear shorts and walk along the beach barefoot without actually feeling cold.

On a good note, I am also feeling much more happier these days. I have finally cut things out of my life that were keeping me down and I'm on the up and up now. I've taken up my hobby of photography again and back to editing old and new photos with Photoshop. Hoping that one day I will be able to purchase a DSLR to advance my photography skills. Perhaps then I will be able to take professional-like photos for friends and at certain events. That's a very exciting possibility. =]

Spiritually I've been trying to draw closer to God, as I feel I have been quite neglecting of that certain part (though really it is ALL of my life) of my life. I've started getting into Psalms lately and trying to read them daily, particularly in the mornings. I also feel like I'm getting to know Jesus all over again and it's a good experience, sometimes I forget just how amazing a person he is. Recently at a camp I was a leader on we went through John 8:1-11 where a bunch of people bring this woman who has commited adultery with intentions of stoning the woman and see if Jesus will slip up in his words, Jesus responds to the people with "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." So one by one, the people walk away and then eventually there is no one left there except Jesus and the woman. Jesus tells the woman that she can walk away a forgiven woman. Even though I have heard that story so many times before, still now I am amazed at the love of Christ. It is truly amazing and staggering. That there is absolutely nothing I can do stop his abounding love, he considers me his treasure even when I feel absolutely worthless, down in the bottom of the deepest hole.